American Revolution Quotes - Page 9

• Whatever deficiencies the leaders of the American Revolution may have had, reticence, fortunately, was not one of them.

  Bernard Bailyn

  Leader, May, Revolution

  "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution". Book by Bernard Bailyn, August 1967.

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• To cash paid for saddlery, a letter case, maps, glasses, etc etc etc. for the use of my Command: 29 pounds 13 shillings and sixpence... To Mrs Washington's travelling expenses in coming to and returning from my winter quarters, the money to defray that taken from my private purse: 1064 pounds, one shilling.

  George Washington

  Taken, Winter, Glasses

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• Mankind may amuse themselves with theoretic systems of liberty... but we can only discern its true value by the practical and wretched effects of slavery.

  Mercy Otis Warren

  Liberty, Slavery, May

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• Remember, Sir, that [England] began the slave trade!

  Benjamin Franklin

  Revolution, England, Remember

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• Never yet could I find that a black had uttered a thought above the level of plain narration; never saw even an elemental trait of painting or sculpture.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Black, Sculpture, Levels

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• A disunited people till the end of time, suspicious and distrustful of each other, [the Americans] will be divided and subdivided into little commonwealths... with no center of union and no common interest.

  Josiah Tucker

  People, Revolution, Till The End

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• I fear we may live to see another revolution.

  John Marshall

  May, Revolution

  John Marshall (2005). “The Political and Economic Doctrines of John Marshall”, p.90, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

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• Even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government without horror.

  George Washington

  Character, Government, Revolution

  George Washington (1852). “The life of General Washington: first president of the United States”, p.140

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• The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge right or make good decision.

  Alexander Hamilton

  People, Judging, Decision

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• It would be a foetus of monarchy!

  Edmund Randolph

  Would Be, Revolution, Monarchy

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• Faced by the actual practice of freedom, the French and American revolutions would be forced to stand by their words.

  William S. Burroughs

  Practice, Would Be, Revolution

  William S. Burroughs (2007). “Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader”, p.416, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• Let this sad tale of death never be told without a tear: let every parent tell the shameful story to his listening children, till tears of pity glisten in their eyes, or boiling passion shakes their tender frames.

  John Hancock

  Children, Passion, Eye

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• This is where the Continental Congress met over two hundred years ago during the American Revolution. So, Lancaster was actually the capital of our nation for one day in 1977.

  Dan Quayle

  Years, Two, One Day

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• A revolution is bloody, but America is in a unique position. She's the only country in history in a position actually to become involved in a bloodless revolution. The Russian revolution was bloody, Chinese revolution was bloody, French revolution was bloody, Cuban revolution was bloody, and there was nothing more bloody then the American Revolution. But today this country can become involved in a revolution that won't take bloodshed. All she's got to do is give the black man in this country everything that's due him, everything.

  Malcolm X

  Country, Men, Unique

  "The Ballot or The Bullet (Detroit Version)". Malcolm X's speech at a meeting sponsored by the Congress for Racial Equality in Detroit, Michigan, April 12, 1964.

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• In no obvious sense was the American Revolution undertaken as a social revolution.

  Bernard Bailyn

  Revolution, Social, Obvious

  Bernard Bailyn (2012). “The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution”, p.302, Harvard University Press

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• That slow poison [slavery] is daily contaminating the minds and morals of our people. Every gentlemen here is born a petty tyrant, practiced in acts of despotism and cruelty.

  George Mason

  Tyrants, People, Gentleman

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• The day is not distant when we must bear and adopt [the abolition of slavery], or worse will follow.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Abolition Of Slavery, Revolution, Bears

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• A half-starved limping government, always moving upon crutches and tottering at every step.

  George Washington

  Moving, Government, Half

  George Washington, John Clement Fitzpatrick, David Maydole Matteson (1784). “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799”, p.306

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• Why can I not fight for my country too?

  Deborah Sampson

  Country, Fighting, Revolution

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• The States separately have very inadequate ideas of the present danger. Party disputes and personal quarrels are the great business of the day, whilst the concerns of the nation are secondary.

  George Washington

  Party, Ideas, Revolution

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• Away with your president! We shall have a king... the army will salute him as monarch; your militia will leave you and assist in making him king and fight against you. And what have you to oppose this force? What will then become of you and your rights?

  Patrick Henry

  Kings, Fighting, Army

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, Samuel Bryan, Patrick Henry (2017). “Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist: The Great Debate (Complete Articles & Essays in One Volume): Words that Traced the Path of the Nation - Founding Fathers’ Political and Philosophical Debate, Their Opinions and Arguments about the Constitution”, p.83, Madison & Adams Press

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• If the American Revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worthwhile.

  Samuel Eliot Morison

  Freedom, America, Independence

  Samuel Eliot Morison (1972). “The Oxford history of the American people”, Signet

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• It turns out one of my ancestors fought in the Continental Army, so I was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution.

  Henry Louis Gates

  Son, Army, Revolution

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• The American Revolution and Declaration of Independence, it has often been argued, were fueled by the most radical of all American political ideas.

  Carl Bernstein

  Ideas, Political, Independence

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